New York’s stalwart central midfielder put in a solid shift against Sporting KC the week prior and showed little to no problems in his play. Suddenly, doctors told him he would need to miss time with a fractured knee cap.

He addressed his condition on Sirius XM’s ‘Over the Ball.’

“It was kind of a freak thing. [I] Didn’t expect it. At first, I thought it was just a bruise,” he recalls. “It happened in the first half of the Sporting KC game. I kind of limped around a little bit, walked it off, was running around. In the second half, it was bothering me and I ran around a little more.

“I came to find out after the game that it ballooned up and [became] swollen. The doctor was like ‘ya, I don’t think this is a bruise.”

The doctor’s initial observation hit McCarty hard. The midfielder has never suffered a knee injury in his playing career, immediately causing him to think the very worst.

“I was actually pretty nervous,” he admits. “I thought it was going to be a lot worse. I had a couple thoughts creeping into my head. ‘You never had a knee injury before. Maybe your season will be over.’

“The doctor came in and eased my mind. He said ‘listen, you have a real injury but it’s much better than what it could have been.’ No ligament damage.

“I ended up having a very small fracture in my knee cap.”

McCarty also shot down unnamed media reports, claiming he would need surgery for the knock “which was totally false.”

“Once the bone heals, I am good to go.”

If there were any silver lining, it’s this; Major League Soccer observes a 19-day break in action for the World Cup. Instead of missing anywhere from four to five potential league matches, McCarty may only miss a single match; last weekend’s thrilling win at New England.

According to McCarty, he should be back in action for the Red Bulls by their June 27th encounter against Toronto FC.